Happy Reformation Day……

On this day in 1517,   Martin Luther posted the 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg Germany.   Number one on the list was this;  that the life of a christian should be a life of repentance.   When I was steeped in American Evangelicalism,  I can tell you that my life was not a life of repentance;  it was more of a life of trying to measure my own christian growth, to somehow quantify my spirituality by how much ‘stuff I was doing for God’.    Since becoming Lutheran,  I have learned a new way to think about my christian life.   It is a life hidden in Christ, with nothing good to offer God save the righteousness of Christ that covers me, and with nothing to measure save the immeasurable grace bestowed on me.   None of it my own doing.    I am not getting ‘better and better’.  I am only becoming more aware of my own sin and my total depravity. This then leads me to repentance.   Which is I guess…….the point.    Every day when I read God’s word and every Sunday when I hear it,  those words, “your sins are forgiven”  only get more and more sweet.   So, how do you know if you’re growing in Christ? Listen here for a complete answer,  but in short think about how you feel about God’s forgiveness.   Does it bore you?  Do you think you hardly need it anymore?  Or do you hunger and thirst for His word of grace?   Does it amaze you that He could continue to forgive you over and over again?   Luther’s translation and interpretation of God’s Word changed the world forever and showed us that our ‘new’ life in Christ should be a life of repentance.   To quote Dr. Luther,  “We are beggars all.”